Pop idols help fuel latest hair trend: A return to natural black

[yuiyoshida]

Fourth-year university students are seen in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward with striking semi-long black hair, which they both dyed black. (Mainichi)

While dyeing one's hair was once seen as a basic tenet of stylishness among women, a recent trend -- which has also been observed among popular stars such as the members of pop group AKB48 -- is to go au naturel with glossy black hair.

"Lighter hair is out of style now," declared a 21-year-old woman hanging out in Tokyo's Harajuku district, who went from blonde to black about four months earlier. "My hair looks much smarter now, which has gone over really well at work."

A 20-year-old female university student who had brown hair but went back to black last autumn pointed out another aspect of such a transition.

"When my hair was brown, I had to continually dye it to prevent the black roots from showing," she said. "Not having to dye it so much now has been really helpful financially."

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20140323p2a00m0na008000c.html